VA center holds ceremony
CENTER TWP — At the beginning of Wednesday's VA Butler Healthcare topping off ceremony, chaplain Gary Clise led a prayer.
Attendees bowed their heads, but it was hard for them to hear his prayer because of the construction trucks that were working away in the background.
“Nothing stops the construction from going on here,” joked David Cord, VA Butler Healthcare director. “Not even the words of the Lord. I can see why we're ahead of schedule.”
At the ceremony, the last steel beam was put into place on the entrance of the new health care center in front of VA administrators, construction workers, veterans and spectators.
Construction on the facility is running six months ahead of schedule. It is set to be done by summer of 2017.
“We wanted to beat the Pennsylvania winter,” said T. Michael Scott, Cambridge Healthcare Solutions president.
According to Scott, the project will create more than 2,000 construction jobs. Also, he said, it will produce about $10 million in property tax revenue for Center Township, the Butler School District, and Butler County over the 20-year lease with the VA.
The 168,000-square-foot center will cost $163 million over the time of the lease.
U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, R-3rd, of Butler was the keynote speaker. He emphasized the need to honor both fallen and living veterans.
“There is no greater act of religion than someone who is willing to die for what they believe in, for what they loved,” he said.
“This building is a tribute to the 1.4 million Americans who died and more importantly to that precious 1 percent — and I am so sick and tired of hearing about the 99 percent and the 1 percent — the 1 percent is those people in uniform who have gone to serve this great nation of ours.”
In turn, Art Greathead, director of the 3rd Congressional District Military Veterans Advocate Group, expressed appreciation for Congress.
“The most important thing to take out of this is that the VA and our Congress is committed to providing quality health care to our veterans in this area,” he said.
U.S. Air Force veteran Kathy Hoerner was pleased with what she saw.
“I just wanted to see how far they got on the building, and I think it's amazing they got this far,” she said. “It's going to be a very good thing for the veterans, especially the ones who need the VA health care like me and quite a few others.”Dr. Timothy Burke, chief medical officer for VA-VISN 4, hopes the new facility can shine a light on the positives of the VA.“We need to capture that narrative to what the VA means to not only veterans but all Americans,” said Burke, who formerly was the chief of staff and an interim director at VA Butler Healthcare.Health care center program manager Cherie Hawryliak is glad to see construction progressing.“This went wonderfully,” she said of the ceremony. “Obviously if the weather was a little bit warmer it would have been great, but at least we all stayed dry.“This marks a big moment for us. To see that final beam up there now and to know that the building's just going to continue to take on such a fast progress, it's very exciting for us.”The center will be a silver LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design — two-story building. It will include primary care, specialty care, mental health, dental, diagnostic, laboratory, pathology, radiology, podiatry, optometry, pharmacy, physical rehabilitation and women's health.It also will house telemedicine equipment for telehealth, clinical video telehealth, teledermatology, teleretinal exams and teleaudiology.The VA serves 19,000 veterans in four counties.The center will replace the health care facility on 325 W. New Castle Road. It is yet to be determined what will happen to that building.
